Young people unable to get on the property ladder because of soaring house prices are being encouraged to take up one of 800 empty council houses in Coventry.

Leaflets advertising vacant houses and flats are being circulated in higher-priced areas to tempt people who cannot afford to buy their own houses.

House prices in some parts of Coventry have recently soared by over 30 per cent, leaving many young people unable to move out of the family home.

An advertising campaign is being run to remind people that council houses are available.

There are currently 800 empty council-owned properties in Coventry, double the target of 400, or two per cent of housing stock.

Would-be tenants are currently being encouraged to take up houses in Stoke Aldermoor and Willenhall.

The advertising campaign has focused on the south side of the city, including leaflets being dropped through the doors in the Earlsdon area.

Head of housing management Richard Osborne said the average council rent for a three-bedroom home was £49 a week, compared to £112 in the private sector.

Mr Osborne said:

“Local authorities and housing associations across the country are experiencing a higher turnover of residents.”

In the 1960s tenants normally stayed in the same house for around 15 or 20 years. Now the average stay has fallen to just five years.

Mr Osborne added that the campaign to get people to move into the council’s property was continuous.

He said:

”Over the course of a year we aim to drop leaflets in all parts of the city. We advertise void properties in the same part of the city to where the leaflets are.

“We’ve had a reduction of 15 per cent in void properties since January.

“Property prices have gone up considerably in the last 18 months and there must be an element of people who now don’t stand a chance of getting into home ownership.”